Rev's Ramblings – Ring out the old

By Kieran Rowlinson | January 4, 2016

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This is the time of the year that we look forward, but it’s also one where we consider the old year and all that it threw at us, whether good, bad or indifferent. Certainly for me, as I get older, the main thought that always comes to mind is ‘Where did those 365 days go?’

Whoever said time flies, wasn’t joking. In this week’s Rev’s Ramblings I want to share some of my own TNS-related 2015 highlights. Although they aren’t in any particular order, up there at the top if I had to put them in hierarchical listing, would be the first Champions League fixture.

I’ve been to numerous European games over the years, from England in the European Championships through to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the UEFA Cup. The common denominator though with all of them is that I was just a fan. So to head off to the north Atlantic, destination B36 Torshavn, as part of the travelling TNS team entourage was brilliant.

I loved the whole experience including the journey there and back, and of course the time spent on the beautiful Faroe Islands. The peak though was the game played in the national stadium, the Torshavn equivalent of Wembley. (I’m on the pitch in this week’s featured image). Arriving there early, my partner-in-crime on TNS radio, Sam Thomas, got to work setting up the equipment.

We were given our own media-suite room overlooking the pitch with a superb view. If you’d have told me even just one year before that I’d be presenting and commentating on a Champions League game, I wouldn’t have believed you. It just shows that you never know what’s around life’s corner.

Then there was the away fixture in the next round, at the champions of Hungary. With a rich European history of their own, this was the stadium where Videotex reached the final of the UEFA Cup themselves in the mid-80s. With teams such as Real Madrid and Manchester United having played there, this really felt like European football.

I’m old enough to remember the games from the 70s and 80s where the likes of Liverpool, Leeds would be featured on TV playing in far away Eastern European stadiums, way beyond the iron curtain. Since the days of glasnost and perestroika (for those too young to remember, no they weren’t the Dynamo Moscow midfield pairing) times have changed.

The thing that instantly struck me though about the Videoton stadium was that it hadn’t changed at all. Stepping into the ground itself on matchday it was like going back in time. The layout, the floodlights, everything in fact took me back to the days of sitting in front of a black and white TV willing the English European Cup winners to do us all proud.

Then there were the two domestic knockout competition trophies won by TNS, the Welsh FA Cup and the Welsh League Cup. Cup final day, whatever your team or league you’re involved in, is always a very special one. To be there at both, with TNS Radio, was again a great honour and privilege.

Well, I could go on and on – winning the treble, the people that I’ve been honoured to meet along the way and so on. I could probably write a book never mind a weekly column entry. Whether they even make it to written form or not though, the most important thing is that they’re all great memories, and that’s what counts.

Finally, I hope you have a great 2016. On behalf of the social media team, thank you for your support over the past twelve months and we look forward to engaging with you during the next fifty-two weeks as well. Feel free to contact me by email and who knows, you may make it into a future Rev’s Ramblings entry! stewart.bloor@tnsfc.co.uk